Author's Note: ...so it's been a little while. Look I can explain. A friend got me to listen to Critical Role. Which took awhile, and isn't something I can really listen to and write at the same time. Which the led to playing actual D&D. And designing my own world to DM... I swear I used to be cool. So it's not my fault this took forever for me to get around to writing. It totally [Redacted]'s fault, not mine. Anyways, enough about me, here is the (very)long awaited fifth chapter of This Is What It Feels Like.

This Is What It Feels Like

"So, no Hope still?" Josie asked rhetorically as her sister sat on the couch across from her, the eye roll she got in response being all the answer she needed.

"Nope, she's still locked up in her room," Lizzie grumbled. It wasn't exactly new for Hope to do so, and at least this time Hope wasn't just brooding. Well not only brooding at least, as she had told Lizzie that she was working on an enchantment and needed to focus. What that enchantment was she had been less clear on.

"I'm sure she'll come out sometime," MG chimed in, not even looking up from his comic.

"Pretty sure she did that already," Lizzie said with a smirk. Well kind of. Not really. They had just started dating and let the rumor mill do it's thing.

"Not what I meant," MG said amid a several groans from the rest of the gang hanging out in the common area. "There's only a month left before the school year ends, I'm sure she'll be out by then."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Lizzie replied with a groan, slumping down on the coach dramatically. There had been so much she wanted to go out and do with Hope before the summer break started, but thanks to getting an over-sized splinter everyone had gone into overprotective mode. Even if her Dad or Josie were okay with her going into town she doubted that Hope would be.

"Speaking of summer, I still can't believe all three of you are leav- graduating. I can't believe you're graduating," Josie said, barely(not really) avoiding putting her foot in her mouth.

She couldn't help it, it was hard for her to think of it as anything except leaving, even if Cleo, Kaleb, and MG were all old enough to actually graduate. And way past old enough in Cleo's case. Actually she was pretty sure her Dad was forcing Cleo to 'graduate' having been way stricter on the whole "I've been alive since 1612, but I swear I'm a teenager" thing since Sebastian had proven to be such a prick. Although, now that she thought of it Cleo had never said how old she was, so...

"What can I say, Cleo just couldn't stand to stay here without me," Kaleb said smugly, Josie jumping a bit as she was lost in her thoughts while Cleo poked him in the side. "Come on, it's high school, if you survive four years you get to go free and prosper. That's the deal."

"Pretty sure 'surviving' is supposed to have a different meaning than it does here," Lizzie said, her voice half muffled from the coach cushion she was now laying against. Not that she was pouting because her girlfriend had been absent for a few days. She was just tired. At 10 in the morning

Kaleb tilted his head a little at that, "Not as much as you'd think." Damn, and wasn't that depressing. Moving on, "Anyways, it works out best this way. I actually know my way around, MG can hang with my family as he gets adjusted to the real world, and of course you can do whatever you want because you're amazing." Kaleb added, directing the last part to Cleo. It wasn't empty praise either, between her witch abilities, muse abilities, and apparently absorbing knowledge while in her prison Cleo was definitely the last one they should worry about adjusting.

"Why am I the one that needs to adjust to the real world?" MG said, recieving several looks in response. Ok, so maybe he'd had a few bad experiences in the human world so far. That didn't mean he couldn't make it in the real world.

"Because otherwise you'll be dead within a year," Hope said as she approached, having heard part of the conversation.

"Hope!" Lizzie said as she sat up quickly, her whole demeanor brightening. She could hear her twin snickering but she could get back at her later, instead choosing to readjust to give Hope a space next to her to sit.

"Hey," Hope said softly, leaning over to give Lizzie a quick kiss on the cheek as she sat down beside her, setting a small bag down by her feet. "Sorry I haven't been around lately."

"It's fine," Lizzie said, just happy that Hope was finally out of her room. She wasn't too sure Hope had even been leaving to eat. Or had eaten at all in fact.

"Wow, you two are just...," Finch said, choosing not finish it. Not that she really needed to, everyone present knew what she meant. "So, you were saying something about MG dying?"

"Right," Hope replied, before elaborating on her earlier point. "The real world is not nearly as nice as the school is. In the best of circumstances the three factions are rivals, in the worst they're at outright war with each other. Cities where things are stable like Atlanta and New Orleans are the exception."

"Yeah, but I'm a vampire. Which is basically a superhero. And I don't have to worry about sunlight thanks to having this," MG said, waving his hand to show the daylight ring on it.

With a simple gesture of her finger Hope magically pulled off the ring before MG could react. "And now you don't. And are dead."

"Shit!" MG yelped as the ring came off, leaping up and running to get to a more shaded area. "Not funny Hope!"

"Oh relax, the schools windows are enchanted to block the dangerous part of sunlight. I doubt we'd have any vampires left otherwise given how many times I've seen one come to breakfast without their ring on." Teenagers. Notoriously forgetful, even when in matters of life and death.

"Oh… I knew that." Now that he thought about it he was pretty sure he remembered waking up and opening the blinds at least once with his ring sitting on the nightstand.

"So yes, you need time to adjust. And it's much safer for that to happen in a city which Kaleb is familiar with and has a support structure." Hope added, surprising Kaleb a bit that she knew that much. Then again there was a lot he didn't know, such as the fact that she had been there at the football game he was 'recruited' at, or that she had managed to save all of the kids he attacked. Memory suppression was half the reason Dr. Saltzman took her on those trips after all, and she was quite good at it.

"And to help make sure you actually live long enough to adjust, I made presents. For your graduation," Hope said, gesturing again and sending three small boxes floating over to Cleo, MG, and Kaleb. "They're modified daylight rings for you two, enchanted so that they can't be taken off by anyone but you." Well by whoever put it on them technically, but that was practically the same thing. And MG's was had a little extra in it, a suppression charm that would knock him unconscious if he his ripper tendencies took over. That had been what had taken her so long, as once she'd had the idea for it she couldn't let it go until she figured out a way to make it work.

"Thanks, Hope. Way more stylish too," Kaleb said, grinning as he looked at an exact copy of the earring he typically wore, before glancing over to see that MG's was simple metal band, far less gaudy than the typical daylight ring. With a flash of speed he swapped his current earring out for the new one, before darting down the hallway and opening the door, sticking his hand out into the sun. "Nice."

"And Cleo, yours is a protection charm. And if you push some magic of your own into it, then it can act as ward and prevent other supernaturals from touching you." Hope added as Cleo looked her own gift over. For a witch like Cleo the few seconds of protection that could buy would be more than enough to allow her to handle most situations herself.

"Hope… thank you," Cleo said sincerely, holding the simple silver bracelet to her chest. Hope and herself had slowly been reconnecting over the last few months, but there had still been a tension there. A very understandable one given all that had transpired between them. But if Hope was willing to give her something like this maybe things were really better.

"So, anything for me?" Lizzie asked leaning over to try to peer into the bag, while MG gave his own thanks for his gift.

"Are you graduating?" Hope asked with a smile, laughing as her girlfriend frowned slightly. "Of course I got you something. Both of you actually."

"Oh?" Josie said, perking up at the idea of presents.

Smiling Hope levitated a box to each twin, the girls quickly opening them to reveal identical silver necklaces. "They're a little plain, but you can add whatever charm or jewelry you want to them. The enchantment is the main point, it's a protection charm, a pretty powerful one. And if needed you can always siphon from it and recharge the charm later."

"Hope… thank you," Josie said, handing it over to Finch before turning so her girlfriend could put it on her.

Beside Hope, Lizzie hadn't really moved, instead just staring at the necklace. "Are you sure?" Lizzie said quietly, getting Hope to turn and look at her curiously. "I'm unstable. What if I blow up and siphon it and…

Hope quickly leaned over and gave Lizzie a kiss, stopping her from continuing, "I trust you."

Lizzie smiled at that, doing the best to ignore the fact that pretty much everyone around them heard that. Putting the lid back on the box she clutched it to her chest, "Thank you."

Hope didn't say anything, instead just setting her free hand on Lizzie's thigh and squeezing it supportively. "And Finch, sorry I didn't get you anything. I'll make you something before you graduate next year. Unfortunately a moon ring would really just make you target and get you killed."

"Wait, what? Why would a moon ring get me killed? What even is that?" Finch asked, eyes widening as she looked over at Hope.

"A ring that let's you freely shift and use more werewolf abilities in human form. The other factions really don't like werewolves having them though." As in would kill them on sight to take it if they recognized it. Fortunately the Crescent Wolf pack no longer needed them.

"You're saying I could be killed just for that? Is the supernatural world really that… fucked?" Finch asked, not for the first time wondering just what she was now apart of. Things had sure seemed a lot simpler and safer when she was on her own.

"Did you miss where I took my girlfriend on a date at carnival and ended up killing-"

"Hope!" Josie cut in quickly, eyes darting over to a bunch of the younger students who had just entered the common area.

"-Lizzie at all the games. It was really one sided." Hope adjusted quickly, Pedro eyeing her suspiciously as she did.

"Nice," Kaleb said, both for Hope's quick deflection and her carnival victories.

"Wait… is that why their room is full of pandas now?" Finch asked, letting the earlier conversation drop as the younger students settled in at table across the room. Smiling, Hope quickly confirmed that she was responsible, prompting Lizzie to launch into a small tirade about how using magic to win carnival games was cheating as the group settled in just enjoying the rest of the morning.

"I can't believe Wade thought you'd play D&D with his group. I mean what would you even play? You already can do more magic than any spell-caster, can shift into a wolf at will, and are way stronger than a-" Lizzie's tirade suddenly came to a halt, her suspicions raising as she saw Hope's half smile. "What?"

"You really want to play D&D don't you?" Hope asked, laughing even as she did. She had a feeling Wade had thought to ask her because she had once played with them before. And she did sort of owe him still for breaking his phone, even if she had bought a replacement.

"What? No." Lizzie answered, her voice cracking a bit. Hope just raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not believing it. "Fine, I may have once looked into it. And designed a character. Or three." Or twenty.

"You are such a nerd," Hope said from where she lay beside Lizzie, leaning over to give Lizzie a quick kiss. "A cute nerd. But definitely a nerd."

"Ugh… If you tell anyone I will deny it to my grave," Lizzie said, wishing she had a pillow to cover her face with. They had come out to the lake today to have a picnic date and happened to bump into Wade putting up fliers for his D&D club on the way out. Which for some reason he had thought Hope might want to join.

"Or you could actually join and play," Hope suggested as she finished laying out the picnic. "You might even be able to convince me to join you."

Lizzie just stared at Hope for a moment, her brain struggling to complete that image. "What do you even know about D&D?"

"1's are bad, 20's are good. And it can be surprisingly accurate about monsters." Hope surmised quickly, having only played it once. But she had listened to Landon go on about all sorts of things for it.

"Huh… I'll think about it." Lizzie conceded, not sure what she'd actually do. Then again she didn't really need to figure it out until after the summer break. "It's not like I'll actually be here to play this summer anyways."

"So, speaking of that, I know you're planning to spend summer in Paris with your mom." Which was still a little confusing to Hope. How Caroline was never around during all the awfulness that happened over the last year, but suddenly had all summer available didn't make sense to her. "But I was thinking that maybe you could put that off for a week or two and come down to New Orleans with me?"

Hope was actually nervous for once, blushing and avoiding looking at her as she instead focused on setting out the food. Which was probably why Lizzie herself didn't freeze up, Hope was being too adorable for her to. "Hope, are you inviting me home to meet the family?" Freya had sort of invited her awhile back, but she hadn't been sure if that actually counted or not.

"Yes, although I'm not sure how many will be there," Hope said, not exactly lying to Lizzie. Sure, she hadn't gotten any confirmation of who would be there, but knowing her family she had no doubt that all of them would be there. After all it was the first time she was returning home in nearly three years.

Lizzie didn't really need to think about it. Sure meeting Hope's family was a little intimidating, but it was also a chance to meet Hope's family. To learn more about the most closed off and private girl she knew. How could she pass that up? Plus getting to spend two more weeks of summer with her girlfriend? Of course she was going to go. "Of course I'll come with you."

"Great. Because Aunt Rebekah had said that if I didn't bring you then she was just going to fly to Paris to kidnap you anyways. So this works out way better," Hope replied, smiling as she said it.

"She wouldn't really do that, would she?" Lizzie asked, the way Hope looked away giving her a pretty clear answer. Yeah, the thousand year old, unkillable vampire would absolutely do that. "Your family isn't going to try and do the whole 'intimidate their little girl's boyfriend' thing are they? Well, girlfriend but you know what I mean."

Hope wanted to say no, she really did. She just didn't believe it for an instant. "Yeah, they're definitely going to do that. But at least you already made your intentions clear?"

Lizzie didn't realize what Hope was hinting at for a second, before suddenly blushing as she realized. "Oh god. I'm going to get murdered. You're inviting me to my own execution." All because she had blurted out to Freya that she wanted to have sex with Hope. Which wasn't fair at all, of course she wanted that, she was a teenager and Hope was her absolutely gorgeous girlfriend.

"No one's going to murder you," Hope assured Lizzie, having already made that very clear to her family. If they even joked about it she was going to stick them in a coffin for the entirety of her visit. "...you are wearing that necklace I gave you, right?"

"Not funny," Lizzie grumbled, even while pulling the silver chain up to show Hope the gift she had given her a few weeks ago. She'd only finally worked up the confidence to actually start wearing it a few days ago, and so far had managed to not blow anything up.

Actually, along the line of gifts, Hope's birthday was coming up soon. She had been going to miss it due to being in Paris and had planned to find a gift while there. But now she'd actually be with Hope for her birthday, which was awesome but also meant she really needed to step up her planning for presents. After all as much as she'd like to, she couldn't just wrap herself in bow and tell Hope to enjoy. Especially not in a house full of vampires with super senses.

Needing a distraction, Lizzie took one of the sandwiches Hope had made and bit into it, not for the first time glad that her girlfriend was such a good cook. Granted sandwiches were something even she could make, but these were toasted and Hope had kept them warm somehow. Magic probably. "So, how did you get my Dad to agree to this?"

Hope didn't answer, instead mirroring Lizzie and taking a sandwich to distract herself. "You haven't told him, have you?" Yep, that tracked. She couldn't imagine her Dad being thrilled with her spending weeks with the Mikaelsons.

"I was waiting to make sure you actually wanted to first," Hope deflected, both girls knowing that was only half the reason. To say that Alaric had history with the Mikaelson's was putting it lightly, and while he had a high opinion of Hope, that did not extend to the rest of her family, outside of maybe Freya.

"Huh, maybe it's you I need to worry about getting murdered?" Lizzie said around a mouthful of sandwich. Not that her Dad actually could, but he was known to get quite creative at times. "I'll let Josie know not to help him with any prison worlds just in case."

"Not helping," Hope said, having been trying not to think of this. It would work out though, Dr. Saltzman loved her. She was sure she could get him to overlook her family having killed him a couple of times. It might just take a little while.

It had in fact taken several weeks, a conversation with both Freya and Caroline, and about a dozen promises to keep Lizzie safe before Dr. Saltzman had agreed to letting Lizzie come with her to New Orleans. Which had been annoying but Hope had a hard time saying that it wasn't fair. Just because it had been peaceful the last few years didn't mean things couldn't go sideways. Which was a large part as to why she hadn't been home in several years.

"Hey, you okay?" Lizzie asked, reaching over to take Hope's hand as she drove them to the Mystic Falls airport. Which she hadn't actually known Mystic Falls had until this morning.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about how long it's been since I went home," Hope replied, squeezing Lizzie's hand as she kept her focus out the window. They last time she'd been home had been for little Nicklaus' birth, and that had been over three years ago. She had used the excuse of helping out at the school or going on recruitment trips to avoid returning home and Freya had been patient enough to let her.

"Can I ask why you didn't?" Lizzie said hesitantly, not sure if Hope wanted to talk about it.

Hope let out a deep sigh, "Because I was a coward. Too afraid to face everything that was there." Too many memories, too many expectations, too many fears, too much of everything. She knew how much it had hurt Freya that she stopped coming back, how much it hurt her family that she had limited contact so much. But she had been too afraid to face them and see the worry and concern, too afraid to let them become involved in the mess that was her life and end up risking theirs.

"You are the furthest thing from a coward I've ever met," Lizzie said forcefully, not seeing how Hope could ever think of herself as that. Hope never backed down from anything, despite how much common sense would say to.

"Being willing to die and not being a coward are two very separate things," Hope said faintly, understanding the difference far to well. For quite some time she had been looking for an excuse to die, a way that would let her, without feeling like she was throwing away the life her parents had sacrificed theirs for. "I don't want to be either of those anymore though."

Lizzie didn't say anything, instead just gripping Hope's hand even tighter. She knew that Hope had a bit of martyr complex, had made plenty of jokes about it over the last year or so. But she had never considered what that actually meant, what the root of it was. And so, she wasn't sure what to say. If her years of therapy had taught her anything though it was that Hope being willing to open up even this much to her was a good sign.

The silence persisted until they reached the airport, Lizzie raising her eyes as she saw how saw small it was. She thought Richmond had a small airport, but this one was absolutely tiny. There was no security or check in that she saw, Hope directing her to just drive up along the tarmac and down to the hanger 12.

"It's a private airport," Hope said, answering Lizzie's unspoken question as her girlfriend looked around in confusion. "Mostly small planes, but it can handle larger ones as well."

That made sense, in the one hangar they passed that was open she could see a small two-seater airplane inside. But there was no way that was what they would be taking, so wha- "Holy shit. Are you serious?" Lizzie yelled as she hit the brake suddenly, staring at the large white and black jet sitting in hangar 12, the letters G700 displayed prominently on the tail.

Hope couldn't help but laugh, "What, did you think we'd be taking something that was as old as this car is?"

"It's a classic," Lizzie retorted still staring at the jet as she pulled into an empty parking spot by the hangar. Hope no longer caring about the damaged bowling alley or paying the school's taxes suddenly made so much more sense. "So is that yours or..."

"No, of course not," Hope said as she got out the car, "It's-" Before she could finish Hope was lifted off of her feet, the only warning being the sound of rushing footsteps for half a second.

"Hope! Oh, I've missed you!" Rebekah said, squeezing her niece in a tight hug.

"Why don't you let her breathe?" Marcel said lightly as he appeared behind his wife.

"Oh she's fine," Rebekah said, even as she sat Hope back down, the tribrid making a show of feeling her ribs to see if they were cracked. "Stop it, we both know even I did break something they'd already have healed. Now introduce me to your girlfriend already."

"You say that like broken ribs aren't a problem…" Hope muttered, before turning to look at a very stunned Lizzie, her girlfriend having not been expecting the sudden ambush. Which yeah, probably should of warned her on the way here instead of brooding. "This is Lizzie Saltzman, my girlfriend. Lizzie, this is my Aunt, Rebekah Mikaelson, and her husband, my brother Marcel."

"You brat, did you have to introduce me that way?" Marcel laughed, messing up Hope's hair with one hand as the tribrid grinned. Hope had enjoyed bringing up that particular detail far too much ever since she had figured it out. "I was adopted, obviously. Close to two hundred years before either of you were born actually."

"I- uh… Dammit Hope, why didn't you warn me?" Lizzie hissed, choosing instead to focus on that instead of the two vampires looking at her. This was twice now that she had been ambushed by Hope's family.

"Relax," Hope said, walking around the car and taking her girlfriend's hand. "They don't.. well I'd say they don't bite but they are vampires so you know…"

Lizzie snorted out a laugh at that, "That was terrible." Right, this was what she wanted. No need to be intimated by her girlfriend's immortal, powerful, super rich family. "Nice to, uh, meet you. I'm Lizzie."

"Right. Caroline's daughter. You do actually resemble her," Rebekah said, giving Lizzie an appraising look. That was partly just her being blonde but the things she'd heard from Hope did remind her of a young Caroline. And part of her couldn't help but be amused at Hope dating the daughter of the woman Klaus had been so infatuated with.

"Thank you," Lizzie said, nervously playing with her hair. "It's really strange to think that you went to high school with my mom." Not just because Rebekah looked maybe twenty, but because she was like a thousand years old. Ever since actually dating a vampire that was hundreds of year old and seeing how bad it was first hand, she had been far less approving of ancient vampires mingling with teenagers. No wonder the school had such strict rules on it.

"Oh god, please never mention that again. I've worked really hard to forget that phase of my life," Rebekah said, physically cringing as she remembered it. High school drama, multiple back-stabbings both literal and figurative, mostly over petty jealousy and a few dumb boys. To say it was embarrassing was an understatement.

"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad," Marcel said, a smile on his face even as his wife glared at him. Which was fair, what he had heard of it certainly made it seem like it was that bad and more.

"Think of the worst of those teen dramas you used to watch with Davina, and then add stabbings, compulsion, werewolves, and my brother." Rebekah said shortly, regretting she had even brought it up. She had no doubt Caroline was just as happy to forget about all of it as she was.

"Is it bad that makes me grateful all we had was monsters?" Lizzie said to Hope as they walked toward the plane, having some idea of what went down thanks to her mom's notes from Miss Mystic Falls.

"Not sure grateful is the word I'd use, but I understand what you mean," Hope answered while rolling rolling her eyes. Honestly the monsters hadn't even been that bad, it was just that they kept coming. The times she'd spent fighting against Josie and Lizzie had been far more stressful than a random cyclops or banshee.

"Speaking of monsters, why didn't you ever tell us what was going on?" Marcel asked, turning his attention back to Hope just before he entered the plane.

"Well you didn't remember I existed for a decent part of it," Hope replied glibly, obviously deflecting as she pushed past Marcel, pulling Lizzie by the hand along with her. Which was really weird when she took the time to think about it. Like, she was a pretty major reason for like ninety percent of the horrible things her family had been through over the last eighteen years. Which was kind of the whole source of all the guilt she had, that had in turn led to her not going home in so long.

"Uh huh, you don't really expect me to believe that, do you?" Marcel said, seeing right through Hope's obvious attempt at deflecting. He had a very strong suspicion as to why Hope hadn't reached out to them.

Hope just smiled in response, both of them knowing the answer. Guiding Lizzie into the cabin she looked around, "Did you replace the seats since the last time I was here?" It was nice, all dark leather and silver accents but definitely different from what she remembered.

"That would be my fault," Rebekah answered as she settled in on the couch across from Hope and Lizzie, while Marcel directed the crew that they could start taking off. "Marcel was working on a business deal with this cabal that seemed to think I was just a trophy. It was easier to just replace the seats than to get the stains out."

"What kind of stain- oh," Lizzie said, suddenly realizing what she meant. Looking down at the seats she shifted nervously, not at all helped by Rebekah flashing her a smile wide enough to show the tips of her fangs.

"Stop that," Hope said, glaring at her aunt. Fortunately Marcel streamed back into the cabin, handing his wife a glass of wine.

"Are you lying to our guests? Should I tell them what really happened to the seats?" Marcel asked teasingly, throwing in a wink Hope's way for good measure.

This time it was Hope's turn to fidget, looking down at the seats they were sitting on with suspicion. "Oh, I get it," Lizzie said suddenly, "And I thought the mile high club was mostly a joke." Probably more feasible to join if you had a private jet though.

"Lizzie!" Hope yelped, nudging her girlfriends shoulder. Just because you understood what someone was intimating didn't mean you had to acknowledge it.

"What? He brought it up," Lizzie said, pointing at Marcel. "See how proud he looks too?" And she had a point, Marcel was very much grinning like the cat who had caught the canary. Rebekah at least looked a little embarrassed but she was also seemed to be enjoying Hope's reaction.

"Is it too late to turn the plane around? This was clearly a mistake," Hope said, not at all meaning any of it. Even if she was going to die of embarrassment, possibly before they even made it into the air.

"Obviously not, you're stuck with me," Lizzie said, taking hold of Hope's hand. "On the subject of embarrassing Hope though, I'm sure you both have plenty of stories."

Hope groaned at that, trying her best not to see the look Rebekah and Marcel gave each other. It was all too apparent that they were relishing this chance. It was probably the whole reason they had been the ones to pick them up. Even as she turned and hid her face in her free hand Hope couldn't help but smile, gently rubbing her thumb across the back of Lizzie's hand as Rebekah launched into some story about her turning worms into butterflies and trying to chase them when she was a baby. After all if Lizzie thought this was going to be just her getting embarrassed then she had clearly forgotten just how much dirt she had on her girlfriend, and from long before they had started dating.

"Hey there gorgeous," Freya said as they entered the Mikaelson compound, walking over to give her niece a hug. "You got here earlier than I expected. And Lizzie, good to see you again too."

"They showed up earlier than expected and traffic from the airport was surprisingly light," Marcel said as he entered, several bags held in one hand that he had insisted on carrying in for the girls. In a flash he darted up stairs, dropping the bags off in each room before coming back to the foyer. "Where's everyone else?"

"Out for a late lunch," Freya answered, as Marcel rejoined them. "Kol wanted to spend some time with his favorite nephew, and Keelin does not trust Kol with a toddler so she went with them." Which was entirely reasonable, even if her youngest brother had finally settled down after a millennia.

"Kol's here too? Did Davina come as well?" Hope asked, getting a shake of the head in response.

"Davina is still a sore spot with a lot of the witches, so she thought it'd be better not to come by," Freya answered as they moved to the living room. "Kol's actually going to head out in a day or two, he's trying to keep a low profile and the ball will be anything but."

"There's a ball?" Hope and Lizzie asked almost simultaneously, both teens looking at each other in confusion.

"Rebekah didn't tell you?" Freya asked, turning and glaring at her sister. Half the reason she had been the one to pick up Hope had been to inform her of what they had planned, especially since it had been her idea.

"I was going to… but they were so cute on the flight down here. Trying to one up each other with embarrassing stories the whole time. It was adorable," Rebekah explained, said adorable girlfriends turning red as she did. "Besides you do 'responsible, older sibling' much better than me. Which I am truly grateful for... as it seems to really suck."

"Tell me about it," Lizzie chimed in agreement, before feeling her girlfriend's eyes on her. "What?"

"You and Josie are twins." And she was actually pretty sure Josie had been delivered first for whatever that mattered. Josie at least seemed to have thought so.

"Yeah, and I'm the older one. Obviously. I'm way more responsible than Jo." She had never gone all villain era or dated an embodiment of the devil herself.

Hope just shook her head at that, not about to get drawn into that particular argument. She'd just mention it to Josie at some point and let them fight it out. Preferably while she had popcorn.

"See what I mean? Adorable," Rebekah said, Hope rolling her eyes at that(accurate) description. "You wouldn't want me to spoil that mood, would you?"

"I do. Because this was your idea, remember?" Freya reminded her sister, Rebekah huffing at that. It was a good idea, and one that frankly needed to happen. They just also knew that Hope was not going to be thrilled.

"Aunt Rebekah, just tell me what's going on already," Hope said with a sigh, already dreading what was to come.

"Yeah, what Hope said. Cause I definitely did not pack a ballgown. I didn't even bring a sundress." They weren't really her style, more of Josie's thing. Hope would probably look good in one though.

Rebekah let out a long sigh before resigning herself, "We going to host a debut ball for you. An introduction to society of sorts."

Hope didn't say anything, her expression neutral as she thought over what that meant. Lizzie on the other hand was far easier to read, her thoughts playing out over her face as she pieced together.

"Isn't that the thing that old-timey British people did?" Lizzie asked, vaguely remembering that from some of the trashy reality shows she'd watched with Josie. "A big party to say here's my virgin daughter, who wants to marry her? Hope isn't even a vir-"

"Lizzie!" Hope said, her face completely red.

"It wasn't me!" Lizzie clarified quickly, Hope groaning as that wasn't what the problem was. "I mean I would have loved to but uh… I mean we haven't even… fuck." Yeah, she should've stopped talking a while ago. Quite a while ago. Possibly back in Mystic Falls.

"See what I meant?" Freya said with a smile, enjoying this immensely.

"You were right. We're keeping her forever," Rebekah answered with a smile, looking past Lizzie to Hope. Her niece was redder than she had ever seen her, but she still seemed so happy. Despite the obvious embarrassment there wasn't a trace of anger and her brooding mood from learning of the ball had been completely blown away.

"Like forever or forever forever?" Lizzie asked, tilting her head slightly. "Cause the last person that tried to turn me got disintegrated." Probably. She assumed that's what happened if a prison world collapsed with you in it.

"It wasn't me. Unfortunately," Hope muttered out, as her family's eyes turned to her. Sighing, she decided to turn the conversation back to the more serious topic at hand. "This ball. It's to introduce me to the supernatural world, isn't it?

"Exactly," Rebekah confirmed, glad to see Hope had picked up on it so quickly. "You getting forgotten like you were is both a blessing and a curse. Obviously it means that the world at large no longer knows you exist, which is good thing. But it won't stay that way for much longer."

"Why not? I mean it's not like Hope goes around announcing she's a tribrid." And she had done a pretty good job concealing it over the years at school. Even Josie and her hadn't known until she'd been like fourteen.

"Well to start with you have a whole bunch of students who went home from your school who know. And who then told their parents. Who in turn brought it up with their locals covens or clans or even just friends," Marcel explained. "Which is why my people are now hearing all sorts of rumors about a hidden tribrid."

"Are you like a spymaster or...?" Lizzie asked, only for Hope to cut in before she could get an answer.

"That's the issue isn't it? The hidden part. If things stay the way they are then I'm an unknown variable." A hidden tribrid would be worrying enough for the supernatural world, but a hidden Mikaelson tribrid? They would immediately assume the worst and the more powerful factions would send people to investigate and probably attempt to kill her. Not that she thought they'd be able to, but an endless stream of supernatural assassins would be even more of a headache than the monsters had been.

"Which is why we want to hold a ball, to show everyone you're not afraid or hiding. The fact that it's your eighteenth birthday makes it a perfect opportunity," Freya said, giving the rest of their reasoning. They could make it appear that they had been hiding her while she was a child, but now that she was an adult weren't afraid of everyone knowing about her. That alone would make people make many people hesitate, especially once Hope got public shows of support from Marcel, the New Orleans covens and the Crescent Wolf pack.

"And meanwhile my agents will spread rumors of what you've actually done. I imagine the pieces will fall into place rather naturally for a lot of people, even with the hole in their memories." They'd likely just assume the Mikaelsons had done an outstanding job of hiding Hope's existence for the last eighteen years. And if any did realize a spell had been done or even managed to reverse it, odds were they'd assume the Mikaelsons had cast it and be even more cautious.

"It's a not a bad plan," Hope admitted, already resigning herself to it. She didn't like it, but it was the best of a few bad options. Simply restoring everyone's memories world wide wouldn't work, as even she wasn't sure she could pull off a spell of that magnitude. And even if she could she didn't want to think of the damage it would cause, both from who knows how many people falling unconscious and from all sorts of memories being unsealed.

"So, does that mean we get to go dress shopping?" Lizzie said with a smile, partly serious, but mostly just to brighten Hope up a bit. She was clearly not looking forward to this ball, but had seemed to accept that it was a good idea.

Hope smiled even as she rolled her eyes, "Yes, we can go dress shopping. But not today."

"Don't worry I can guarantee that you'll have the best dresses in the city," Rebekah promised, her eyes lighting up at the announcement. It had been far too long since they had hosted a proper Mikaelson ball, it would be good to do so once more.

"So, how are you feeling about this ball really?" Lizzie asked, laying out on Hope's bed as the tribrid unpacked her clothes and put them up. She hadn't even bothered, just tossing them onto the bed in room she was given next door to Hope's before coming in here.

She had been hoping to find something fun in the room to tease her girlfriend with, but there was surprising lack of anything incriminating. No journals or stuffed animals or embarrassing photos. There just wasn't much personality to the room, besides a large bookshelf full of grimoires.

"Honestly? Not that bad anymore," Hope admitted, as she put her clothes away. She had been quite surprised by their plan, and was a little annoyed they hadn't run it by her first but she understood the merits of it quite well.

"So does that mean we'll be able to enjoy a few dances together and you won't spend the whole night brooding?" Lizzie asked, trying to keep her excitement from showing too much.

"I'm sure there will be several dances. I may be able to save a few for you?" Hope said teasingly, smiling as Lizzie sat up on the bed quickly at that.

"Oh god, am I going to have to watch people hit on you or try to set you up with their like second youngest son who's inheriting a castle or something? Cause I will disintegrate someone if I have to." She didn't actually know how to do that, but she was sure she could figure it out. Actually there probably wasn't a single place better to learn, Hope had always said that her family collected magic like Josie collected crushes. Ok, so maybe she hadn't put it that way, but the sentiment stood.

"I'm pretty sure you'd have to get in line if that were to happen. Marcel already called dibs on killing any suitors years ago," Hope said with a laugh, not expecting anyone to be so bold at the ball.

"… that doesn't include me does it?" Lizzie asked, only slightly concerned. She hadn't been murdered yet, so she was probably safe despite her best attempts to sign her own death warrant. Then again they could just be waiting until she was separated from Hope.

"Of course not," Hope said, putting the last of her clothes up and moving to stand between Lizzie's legs as she sat on the bed. Giving her girlfriend a quick kiss she smiled as she pulled back, "They like you, you know. I can tell."

"So I won't be waking up in a coffin at the bottom the sea?" Lizzie asked, just to make sure.

Hope just laughed, shaking her head before giving Lizzie another kiss. Lizzie melted into it, kissing Hope back this time. "Wait, they can hear us can't they? I mean they of course they can, they're super vampires. They can obviously hear us kissing." Especially because she had just said they were kissing… she was definitely not going to survive this.

"Lizzie… I've had a silencing spell on my door since I was twelve," Hope said, laughing at her girlfriend. She had even taken a moment when Lizzie was setting her stuff down to reapply the spell, just to be careful.

"Oh… well in that case." And with that Lizzie pulled Hope down to her, locking lips with the tribrid before pulling her down on the bed on top of her. She had to admit, she quiet liked having Hope on top of her like this, it was much less straining on her neck than having to stoop down all the time. And it had other benefits, two large ones pressed against her chest.

Pulling back for air after a few minutes Hope bit down on her lip at the sight of Lizzie flushed beneath her, blonde hair splayed out across her bed, chest rising and falling heavily as she tried to catch her breath too. Before she could make up her mind what to do next, Hope heard a voice in her head.

'You have one minute to stop making out with your girlfriend and come introduce her to the rest of the family. Or I'm sending Kol up there to get you.' Freya's voice rang out in her head, Hope wincing at the both the sudden intrusion and the idea of Kol bursting in on them.

Sighing Hope reluctantly got off the bed, "Time to meet the rest of the family." Hope said, helping Lizzie up while looking at her apologetically.

"Fine, if we must," Lizzie said dramatically, before laughing. As good as the kissing was, she really did want to meet the rest of Hope's family. Besides they could always continue this later.

As Hope opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, Freya's voice rang out in her head again, 'Oh, and I'm going to be removing the silencing spell while Lizzie is here. Just as a precaution.'

Not bothering with a telepathic spell, Hope simply whined loudly, "Aunt Freya!"

Author's Note: And that's the chapter. I was going to wait til Christmas, but I finished this up like twenty minutes ago, and decided why not go ahead and post it? Now onto the next chapter, featuring a ball, more Mikaelsons, and some other fun treats. Hopefully I can get it done in less than two years. Until next time be sure to leave kudos, subscribe and especially leave some comments. Those will always be my favorite.